Influence of Sandwich Panels as Building Envelope on the Nonlinear Dynamic Response of an Industrial Steel Structure

Not only strong but also moderate earthquakes with higher return periods are socially relevant as they may cause significant economic losses – due to damage to the buildings and/or failure of the infrastructure. In an ongoing German nationally funded research project, the behavior of facade elements in lightweight metal construction under in-plane deformation is currently being investigated with the aim to assess their influence on the structural response. Various types of sandwich panels, substructures, as well as the number and position of screws were examined as part of the experimental program. Based on the results of the experimental tests, extensive numerical investigations were performed with the aim of assessing the influence of sandwich panels as a building envelope. Beforehand, a simplified numerical model, which reproduced the behavior of the tested specimens, was developed and integrated into the global structural model (i.e., corresponding to a benchmark industrial building). Structural analyses, including non-linear static (i.e., pushover) and dynamic (i.e., time history) analyses, showed an increased stiffness due to the facade elements which resulted in higher earthquake loads. The pushover analyses indicated a significant effect of the building envelope on the structural behavior. For the case where the effect of the building envelope was considered, an improved horizontal load transfer was observed. Beside a brief state of the art and a description of the research framework, this paper presents: (i) a set of representative experimental results; (ii) a simplified numerical model; (iii) the outcomes of the nonlinear static and dynamic analyses; (iv) the main conclusions.